Lectures

Justice as a Redundant Concept in Islamic Jurispridence

Abdulkarim Soroush’s talk at Dayton University Seminar on Islam and Social Justice

{More»}

Works By Soroush

You Have Turned Iran into a Grim Land»

A letter from Soroush to Khamenei   Mohammad Nourizad, the brave and free-minded artist, who has opened the way to critical admonitions and admonitory criticism, has invited writers and thinkers to join him; to perform their duty of enjoining virtue and opposing vice; and to do their share in reinforcing the criticism in the hope […]

{More»}
The Crust and the Core of Rule by the People»

A wretched judiciary is tyranny’s strength and a strong judiciary makes for wretched tyrants, and today the weakest and most wretched branch of power in Iran is the judiciary. Today, in democratic states, the most unprotected of people find some protection in the law and the judiciary, which lends them a hand to fend off […]

{More»}
There is no God, I swear to God there is no God…»

“There is no God, I swear to God there is no God…”  These were words that Hamed spoke in a pained voice, which brought tears to my eyes. After fleeing Iran with a battered body and a shattered mind and seeking refuge elsewhere, he was pouring out his anger and pain to me over the […]

{More»}
A Word of Advice to the Advocates of Islamic Human Sciences»

First. Iran’s current rulers are suspicious of the human sciences for a single reason: these sciences are secular. The theocrats expect the human sciences to use concepts such as God’s will, spirit and other intra-religious teachings in their explanations about human beings and societies, and since the human sciences do not comply with these expectations, […]

{More»}
Flagging Oratory (and Mind?)»

Mr Khamenei   I heard your speech on 4 June 2010. It was an error-strewn oration. It ebbed and flowed between slips of the tongue and slips of the mind. It testified to flagging oratory. Our accomplished sermonizer, who had surpassed all others in deftness of speech in the thirty years since the revolution, seemed […]

{More»}
If You Daren’t Speak, Why Don’t You Emigrate?»

With greetings to the distinguished scholars and elders of religious learning. I would like, if I may, to address a few words to you.   The anniversary of the Green Movement and the people’s Judgement Day is approaching, and the people have growing expectations of righteous clerics. The movement’s prisoners and martyrs have a message […]

{More»}
When you don’t lose yourself… When you lose yourself…»

When you don’t lose yourself, the beloved is like a thorn When you lose yourself, the beloved is the purest gold   When you don’t lose yourself, a fly can fell you When you lose yourself, elephants fall before you   When you don’t lose yourself, you’re a cloud of grief When you lose yourself, […]

{More»}
Religious Tyranny is Crumbling: Rejoice!»

The bloody wedding has ended and the fraudulent groom has left the bridal chamber. The ballot boxes tremble and ogres dance in the dark. The dead, in their white shrouds, stand and watch, and the prisoners clap with severed hands. And, with a mixture of rage and hatred, the people of the world see off […]

{More»}

Interviews

l’Iran, en quête de justice»

Propos recueillis par Marie-Claude Decamps et Gilles Paris Depuis la réélection contestée du président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad en juin 2009, les manifestations se sont succédé en Iran en dépit d’une forte répression. Prérévolution ? Contestation des dérives du gouvernement ? Que se passe-t-il vraiment dans la République islamique ? Ce qui se passe en Iran ? […]


The Current Iranian System Rests on Obedience not Human Rights»

Interview with Abdulkarim Soroush By: Nooshabeh Amiri  for Roozonline.com This time, we spoke to Dr Abdulkarim Soroush about the separation of religion and the state, the disputes between the secularists and the religious modernizers, and the Green Movement’s prospects. Dr Soroush said that “with the political secularism of a non-theocratic state, pious individuals, too, will […]


It’s Best Just to Speak of an Unqualified Republic»

Interview with Abdulkarim Soroush By Mojgan Modarres-Olum  for Rahesabz.org Q. Over the past five decades, all the broad political movements in Iran have been religious in nature. It seems that the late Ayatollah Khomeini’s movement, which is seen as a turning point among these political-religious movements, transformed the conditions of political struggle in Iran and […]


News

A distinctive form of Muslim politics: Islamism and Post-Islamism Conference in Turkish Review»

Since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the abolition of the institution of the Caliphate in 1924, Islam has become a focal point of reference for a variety of pan-Islamist movements, intellectual arguments and political activists. During the Cold War period…


Muslim theological scholar gives talk on religion, politics to Texas A&M Bush School students»

Muslim theological scholar Abdolkarim Soroush explained to Texas A&M Bush School of Government and Public Service students Tuesday that the world must find a balance between religious duty and democratic rights to solve world conflicts and issues. Considered one of the leading minds in the Muslim community and named one of Time magazine’s 100 most […]


Support Victims of Domestic Violence in Iran»

A Special Program (in Farsi) with Dr. Abdolkarim Soroush & Mr. Abdolali Bazargan At ISLAMIC CULTURAL CENTER OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Please join us on Saturday June 9, 2012 at 6:45 PM in a special program (in Farsi) with Dr. Abdolkarim Soroush and Mr. Abdolali Bazargan to discuss the issue of domestic violence in Iran and […]


Videos

Shi’ism in Need of Reform»

Dr. Abdolkarim Soroush’s Lecture at UC Berkeley on January 20, 2011. There was an introduction by Dr. Mahmoud Sadri. The talk was organized by Iranian Student Alliance in America-ISAA. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5


The Rise of Intellectual Reform in the Islamic World»

Professors from Duke University, Harvard Divinity School and the University of Tehran discuss the pressure many reformers face in Islamic countries.


Imam Ali Conference»

Imam Ali Conference at Hartford Seminary This program took place on Sunday October 17th, 2009 from 9 AM to 5:45PM  


Works Cites Soroush

View of Islam skewed by actions of extremists: expert»

Renowned Islam and political academics Abdolkarim Soroush, left, and Asef Bayat gave keynote speeches and participated in panel discussion during the Islamism and Post-Islamism conference at Queen’s University on Saturday. (Supplied photo) The popular view of Islam has been skewed by the actions of minority extremists, according to world-renowned academics. Dr. Abdolkarim Soroush, a post-revolutionary […]


Muslims for Peace — Kelly James Clark»

Last week I wrote about the most persecuted religion in the world — Christianity. So dire is the persecution of Christians, Christianity is in danger of disappearing from its homeland. Christianity is most in peril, I noted, in Muslim-majority countries where either by official policy or official laxity, Christians are discriminated against, persecuted, tortured, threatened […]


Death of a True Scholar and a Muslim Mensch»

by: Reuven Firestone A bright light of critical scholarship of Islam was just extinguished in Cairo with the death at 66 of professor Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd on July 5. I saw him only last spring at the international conference “The Qur’an in Its Historical Context” held at the University of Notre Dame, where he […]


Works On Soroush

New Theology in the Islamic Republic of Iran»

A Comparative Study between Abdolkarim Soroush and Mohsen Kadivar. This dissertation describes the nature of what has been called “new theology” in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It argues that…


Oxford Bibliographies: Abdolkarim Soroush»

Abdolkarim Soroush is the penname for Hossein Haj Faraj Dabbᾱgh (1945–). He is one of the most controversial figures in the religious and political polemics of postrevolutionary Iran…


What is Islamic Philosophy?»

The Iranian philosopher Abd al-Karim Soroush is an important thinker on the topics of religion knowledge and how this relates to reason. His best-known work…